Spencer  S,  Roche 


^^\  St.  Mark's  Sixtieth 

Anniversary  1850  -  1910 


^^^^^^"^ 


6X5920 
3855 


■3X5^^12.0 

38S5 

1^8 


St.  Mark's  Sixtieth  Anniversary 
1850-1910 

A  Discourse  delivered  in 

Sunday,  December   18,   1910 
By   REV.  SPENCER  S.   ROCHE.  D.D. 

Rector 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  *jf^ 


Presented   bySoe/^n  Cje^T  C) ,  WOOn  £/  ^ID  rX) , 
Division  ..QA-.O.     V  C-O 

5^^/iVM  ..»....O..Q.>^o 

K8 


*      OCT  19  1911      *y 

St.  Mark's  Sixtieth  Anniversary 

1850-  1910 

A  Discourse  delivered  in 

Bt  Mudis  fflt|urrl|,  Irnokign 

Sunday,  December   18,    1910 
By  REV.  SPENCER  S.  ROCHE,  D.D. 


PRESS    OF    HUNTER    COLLINS,    INC. 

138    LIVINGSTON    STREET 

BROOKLYN,   N.  Y. 

1911 


ST.  MARK'S  SIXTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 


"I  thank  my  God  upon  all  my  remembrance  of  you,  always  in 
every  supplication  of  mine  in  behalf  of  you  all  making  my 
supplication  with  joy,  for  your  fellowship  in  furtherance  of 
the  Gospel  from  the  first  day  until  now ;  being  confident  of  this 
very  thing,  that  he  who  began  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect 
it  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ. — Philippians,  1 :3-6. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  is  not  doctrinal  statement,  but 
personal  tenderness.  It  is  an  outburst  of  the  heart,  springing 
from  the  deepest  inward  need  of  loving  fellowship.  It  unites 
exquisite   sympathy  with  courageous   faith. 

The  words  from  a  Roman  dungeon,  may  instruct  us  in  review 
and  outlook  after  sixty  years  of  our  Brooklyn  church's  life. 

With  reverent  gratitude  St.  Paul  cherishes  devout  and  joyous 
reminiscence.  Memory  had  a  wide  scope  in  these  words,  "from 
the  first  day  until  now."  There  are  concrete  facts,  local  ref- 
erences. 

Philippi  was  on  the  great  Roman  road  from  Europe  to  Asia 
Minor,  about  nine  miles  from  the  sea,  and  backed  by  a  mountain 
range.  Here  St.  Paul  had  preached  Christ  without  encountering 
the  usual  opposition.  There  were  cities  larger  and  more  re- 
nowned, where  his  discourses  roused  the  most  virulent  abuse, 
and  where  the  most  tactful  missionary  efforts  were  bafifled.  But 
it  was  different  in  Philippi.  There  one  did  not  find  the  philo- 
sophic scorn  of  Athens,  nor  the  mob  violence  of  Thessalonica. 
The  Philippians  were  of  the  middle  class,  earning,  in  most  cases 
honestly,  their  own  living.  Recall  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
the  first  three  converts.  Lydia  was  by  birth  an  Asiatic,  engaged 
in  a  necessary  and  lucrative  trade,  a  seller  of  purple,  which  may 
mean  a  dyer  or  a  dressmaker.  The  maid  with  the  spirit  of 
divination,   the  pythoness,   was   in   all   probability   a  Greek,   and 

3 


turned  to  account  the  credulity  and  superstition  of  the  multi- 
tude. The  jailer  represented  in  an  humble  capacity,  the  Roman 
empire's  power  and  respect  for  law. 

Like  Brooklyn,  Philippi  was  a  city  largely  inhabited  by  those 
who  were  natives  of  other  lands.  The  prominent  part  taken  by 
women  in  the  evangelization  of  the  community,  must  not  be 
overlooked,  nor  the  resulting  fact  that  whole  families  were 
gathered  into  the  Philippian  Church. 

On  a  previous  anniversary  we  have  considered  the  ecclesias- 
tical condition  of  Brooklyn  in  1850:  let  us  today  call  up  certain 
local,  social,  political,  and  religious  conditions  in  a  singularly 
pregnant  period.  Let  us  glance  at  the  life  of  Brooklyn  from  the 
first  day  of  St.  Mark's  until  now.  What  was  then  a  petty  city 
is  now  almost  the  largest  borough  of  the  second  metropolis  of 
the  globe.  The  year  constitutes  an  important  epoch  in  the  civic 
and  general  history.  It  may  not  inaptly  be  said  to  mark  our 
transition  from  preparatory  to  permanent  stages  of  thought  and 
activity. 

In  1850  we  were  comparatively  a  poor  people.  There  were 
only  seven  billions  of  national  wealth,  being  only  $308  per  capita. 
Today  we  have  one  hundred  and  seven  billions  for  the  nation 
and  $1,310  per  capita.  Then  our  productions  were  worth  a 
billion  dollars,  and  they  are  now  worth  fifteen  billions.  Then 
the  United  States  had  a  population  of  twenty-three  millions :  it 
now  has  ninety  millions.  Then  eight  people,  on  the  average, 
dwelt  on  a  square  mile:  now  thirty  people  live  on  a  square  mile. 
The  total  Federal  Revenue  amounted  to  $47,000,000,  while  the 
entire  expenses  of  the  general  government  were  $44,000,000, 
scarce  a  third  of  what  it  now  costs  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  city  of  New  York.  There  were  thirty-six  thousand  churches 
of  every  name,  the  total  value  of  their  property  exceeding  $86,- 
000,000.  The  property  of  our  church  alone  today  is  reckoned 
at  $125,000,000. 

Thru  the  country  there  was  a  remarkable  development,  both 
as  to  methods  and  magnitude.  We  had  immense  energy,  but 
not  much  cash.     Our  enterprises  rested  on  foreign  capital.     A 

4 


graphic  memorial  of  our  condition  is  afforded  by  one  of  the  very 
foremost  structures  down  town.  What  is  now  the  City  Bank 
and  was  formerly  the  Custom  House,  was  before  that  the  Mer- 
chants' Exchange.  This  building,  with  its  present  imposing 
granite  colonnade,  was  erected  in  1839,  at  a  cost  of  $1,500,000, 
on  the  site  of  the  earlier  building  destroyed  in  the  great  fire  of 
1835.  More  than  half  the  amount,  or  $800,000,  had  been  bor- 
rowed in  England  and  secured  by  bond  and  mortgage.  Said 
Mr.  Gallatin,  the  financial  authority  of  the  day,  in  1839, — "Specie 
is  to  the  United  States,  a  foreign  product."  In  1850,  we  were 
still  largely  a  debtor  nation,  and  such  can  hold  coin  only  by  favor. 
Immigration,  the  western  farms,  California  gold,  and  an  infinite 
variety  of  manufactures,  were  soon  to  change  all  this. 

About  this  time,  immigration  became  a  flood.  A  few  years 
prior  to  the  laying  of  our  first  corner-stone,  only  handfuls  of 
foreigners  came :  one  hundred  thousand  a  year  startled  everyone. 
Beyond  the  Atlantic,  there  were  great  sufferings  and  many 
changes.  1848  witnessed  bloody  revolutions  among  the  Euro- 
pean States,  while  Ireland  experienced  two  years  of  appalling 
famine.  Vast  multitudes  started  for  America,  the  peasantry 
of  Ireland  seeking  food,  the  downtrodden  peoples  in  many  lands 
seeking  liberty.  Three  hundred  thousand  came  in  1849,  and 
four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  thousand  in  1850. 

There  were  of  course  mighty  land  areas  to  be  cultivated,  for 
great  events  were  taking  place  in  the  nation.  Texas  added  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  square  miles  to  the  national  domain. 
The  Mexican  War  was  fought.  New  Mexico  and  California, 
comprising  five  hundred  thousand  square  miles,  became  part  of 
the  United  States.  No  sooner  was  the  treaty  with  Mexico  signed, 
than  gold  in  rich  deposits  was  discovered  in  California.  Perhaps 
the  world  never  saw  such  a  flocking  together  of  adventurers  as 
that  of  the  gold  seekers  of  1849-1850.  They  scuttled  into  the  new 
country  from  adjoining  regions,  from  the  Middle  West,  from 
our  Eastern  States  and  from  every  continent.  In  Brooklyn  and 
New  York  men  left  their  business,  families  and  churches  to  make 
the  long,  perilous  journey  of  months.     By  the  time  the  census 

5 


of  1850  was  taken,  eighty  thousand  settlers  had  rushed  to  the 
neighborhood  of  San  Francisco.  Some  made  their  way  over  the 
endless  and  barren  plains,  even  walking  over  the  snowy  passes 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Some  crossed  near  where  we  are  dig- 
ging the  Panama  Canal,  and  thence  took  little  vessels  up  the 
west  coast  to  the  Golden  Gate.  Some  went  by  the  six-months 
trip  around  Cape  Horn.  The  bones  of  many  an  ill-fated  gold- 
seeker  were  whitening  on  the  western  deserts  and  many  a  frail 
bark  went  to  wreck  on  the  Pacific  shores.  The  winter  of  1849- 
1850  was  very  cold  and  snowy  in  New  York,  and  thousands  of 
men  hastened  to  California.  As  few  found  gold,  gentlemen  from 
our  best  clubs  turned  porters,  waiters  and  peddlers  in  San 
Francisco. 

Providentially  our  industries  were  suddenly  broadened. 
Machinery  showed  wonderful  improvements ;  practical  sewing- 
machines  were  being  made,  but  had  hardly  as  yet  become  known ; 
the  rotary  printing  press  was  making  its  way  more  rapidly ;  the 
power  loom  for  weaving  cloth  had  been  greatly  improved;  loco- 
motives and  steamboats  we  had,  of  course,  but  now  came  the 
McCormick  reaper,  producing  changes  scarcely  less  striking  than 
those  brought  about  by  the  application  of  steam  in  transportation. 
With  the  reaper  came  other  advances  in  farm  equipment.  It 
was  not  till  the  Worlds  Fair,  projected  by  the  Prince  Consort  in 
London  in  1851,  that  the  world  at  large  learned  for  the  first  time 
of  the  novel  agricultural  machinery  which  was  being  set  to  work 
on  our  American  prairies.  That  made  the  western  farms  profit- 
able and  gave  a  huge  impulse  to  the  occupancy  of  the  land. 

The  year  brought  great  changes  in  transportation  and  in  the 
telegraph.  The  first  trunk  line  railroad  to  enter  New  York  was 
the  Erie,  whose  tracks  were  completed  from  Lake  Erie  to 
the  Hudson  River  early  in  1851.  The  railroads  that  ran  out 
of  New  York  were  humble  afifairs.  For  Albany  and  inter- 
mediate points,  one  took  the  cars  at  the  corner  of  Chambers  and 
and  Hudson  Streets,  or  in  Thirty-first  Street  near  Tenth  Avenue. 
For  Albany  via  Harlem,  the  station  was  at  4  Tryon  Row,  just 
east  of  the  City  Hall,  and  at  Twenty-seventh  Street  and  Fourth 

0 


Avenue.  The  trains  for  Boston  started  from  412  Broadway, 
near  Canal  Street,  and  also  from  Fourth  Avenue  and  Twenty- 
seventh  Street.  For  Greenport  and  all  places  on  Long  Island, 
passengers  crossed  by  the  South  Ferry  to  Brooklyn.  There  were 
two  roads  to  Philadelphia,  one  via  the  ferryboat  from  the  foot 
of  Cortlandt  Street,  the  train  running  through  Newark ;  the 
other  via  South  Amboy  and  Camden,  the  steamers  leaving  our 
Pier  1  and  running  to  South  Amboy  where  the  railroad  com- 
menced. 

It  was  not  till  1844  that  the  first  telegraph  line  in  the  country 
was  in  operation.  New  York  and  Philadelphia  were  not  joined 
till  1846.  Though  in  1850  the  wires  were  strung  over  less  than 
17,000  miles  in  the  United  States,  they  were  already  changing 
methods  of  business.  We  were  to  wait  eight  years  for  the 
Atlantic  cable. 

Those  were  the  days  of  American  triumphs  on  the  ocean. 
The  gold  excitement  gave  immense  impetus  to  the  construction 
of  clippers.  The  "Surprise,"  belonging  to  A.  A.  Low  Bros., 
reached  San  Francisco  from  New  York,  in  ninety  days,  and  left 
there  for  London  via  Canton,  receiving  six  pounds  sterling  per 
ton  for  tea  and  all  freight,  netting  her  owners  $50,000  in  excess 
of  her  cost  and  running  expenses.  Our  flag  was  seen  on  our 
own  ships  pn  every  sea.  A  few  months  later  the  yacht  "America" 
defeated  all  competitors  and  won  the  Queen's  Cup.  The  steamer 
"Atlantic"  in  the  summer  crossed  the  ocean,  making  the  run 
from  New  York  to  Liverpool  in  ten  days,  eight  hours  and 
twenty  minutes,  breaking  all  records. 

The  human  mind  confronted  with  such  immense  external 
changes,  passed  through  a  period  of  ferment  which  ended  in 
the  reign  of  transcendentalism  and  criticism  in  politics,  litera- 
ture and  religion.  Most  fantastic  of  all  the  new  systems  that 
found  origin  in  this  period,  we  must  count  Mormonism. 

Our  political  events  were  the  outgrowth  of  the  unrest,  the 
anxieties,  the  aspirations  and  the  blind  gropings  of  the  time. 
The  spectre  of  slavery  was  looming  and  laying  its  corrupt  hands 
on  every  public  question.     The  incoming  peoples   from   Europe 

7 


seeking  labor,  instinctively  turned  aside  from  the  southern  states 
and  gravitated  to  the  west.  While  Congress  was  wondering 
what  to  do  with  the  newly-acquired  territories,  California  came 
to  the  front  with  a  vigorous,  clamorous  population  demanding 
statehood.  Were  there  to  be  slaves  in  these  new  states  and  terri- 
tories ?  How  was  the  Constitution  to  be  interpreted  ?  Were 
the  economic  ideas  and  the  political  doctrines  of  the  south  or 
of  the  north,  to  spread  to  the  Pacific  coast?  These  were  the 
questions  which  aroused  a  bitterness  we  try  hard  in  this  genera- 
tion to  understand.  Mr.  Calhoun  voiced  the  demands  of  the 
south ;  Daniel  Webster  and  Henry  Clay  on  the  side  of  the  north, 
urged  mediation  and  compromise.  While  our  earliest  services 
were  being  held,  contradictory  enactments  by  Congress  were 
suffered  to  go  upon  record.  It  was  agreed  that  California  should 
be  free  and  that  New  Mexico  should  have  slaves :  that  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  should  be  free  from  slave  traffic,  but  not  from 
slave-holding,  while  a  stringent  Fugitive  Slave  Law  should  aid 
southerners  in  recovering  their  runaways.  Brooklyn  quickly 
discovered  what  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  meant.  Two  days  before 
our  first  services  were  held,  James  Hamlet,  a  former  slave  living 
not  far  from  St.  Mark's,  was  arrested  under  the  new  law  and 
taken  back  to  his  owners  in  Baltimore.  Pviblic  indignation  could 
find  no  other  course  than  a  subscription  list  which  purchased  the 
man's  freedom  and  returned  him  to  his  family.  Close  upon  the 
huddling  together  in  Congress  of  these  compromises,  close  upon 
the  first  services  of  St.  Mark's,  great  names  passed  from  the 
living.  Calhoun  died  March  31st,  and  the  soldier-President, 
Harrison,  July  9th.  Two  years  later,  in  1852,  Henry  Clay  was 
taken  in  June,  and  Mr.  Webster  in  October.  During  the  first 
ten  years  of  our  parochial  history  the  bitterness  of  factions  in- 
creased till  the  volcanic  outburst  came  in  a  civil  war  that  devas- 
tated the  land  for  four  years  and  slew  a  million  men,  and  piled 
up  thousands  of  millions  of  debt. 

Turning  to  a  happier  theme,  the  growth  of  the  Kingdom,  what 
visions  rise  as  we  think  of  the  simple  beginning  of  St.  Mark's 
services!     The  General  Convention  of  our  Church  met  in  1850, 


curiously  enough,  in  Cincinnati,  where  it  assembled  two  months 
ago.  The  Upper  House  consisted  of  twenty-eight  Bishops,  the 
number  standing  now  at  one  hundred  and  twelve.  The  Board 
of  Alissions  reported  $201,000  raised  throughout  the  Church  in 
three  years :  our  receipts  at  present  are  in  the  neighborhood  of 
a  million  dollars  annually.  The  total  number  of  the  clergy  was 
then  1,580:  we  have  5,500  now.  In  the  Journal  there  is  a  quaint 
chapter  on  the  "Course  of  Ecclesiastical  Studies,"  which  quotes 
the  action  of  the  House  of  Bishops  in  1804,  a  pronouncement  in 
which  no  mention  is  made  of  either  the  Greek  or  Hebrew  lan- 
guages, there  being  in  consequence  no  mention  of  any  require- 
ment to  read  the  Bible  in  the  original  tongues.  The  Diocese  of 
New  York,  of  which  we  then  formed  a  part,  was  in  an  anomalous 
condition.  From  January  3,  1845,  till  November  10,  1852,  a 
period  of  seven  years,  as  result  of  action  taken  by  the  Convention 
of  the  Diocese,  as  well  as  by  the  General  Convention,  the  leading 
jurisdiction  of  the  American  Church  was  left  without  a  Bishop. 
Confirmations  were  held  at  St.  Mark's  in  the  years  1851  and  1852 
by  Bishop  Chase,  of  New  Hampshire.  Dr.  Wainwright,  at  St. 
John's  Chapel,  Trinity  Parish,  was  called  in  1852  to  be  Provi- 
sional Bishop  of  New  York.  Dr.  Berrian  was  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church.  Dr.  Whitehouse,  afterward  Bishop  of  Illinois,  was  in 
St.  Thomas  Church,  which  then  stood  at  the  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Houston  Street ;  Dr.  Bedell,  afterward  Bishop  of  Ohio,  was 
at  Ascension,  Fifth  Avenue  and  Tenth  Street,  among  the  new 
Knickerbocker  settlement;  the  elegant  and  learned  Dr.  Seabury 
was  at  the  Annunciation  in  Fourteenth  Street;  Dr.  Muhlenberg 
was  far  uptown  at  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Communion  at  Twen- 
tieth Street.  It  is  interesting  in  connection  with  the  Deaf  Mutes' 
services  held  in  this  church  for  many  years,  to  recall  that  prior 
to  St.  Mark's  beginning,  Thomas  Gallaudet  was  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  School  of  St.  Stephen's  Church,  Broome  Street, 
New  York.  He  was  ordained  a  deacon  there  June  16,  1850, 
by  Bishop  Whittingham,  becoming  assistant  at  St.  Stephen's, 
September  18,  1850,  on  which  day  he  started  the  first  Bible  class 
for  Deaf  Mutes  in  America. 

9 


The  very  amusements  of  the  people  showed  that  we  were 
emerginj;^  from  the  simple  ways  of  earlier  times.  P.  T.  Barnum's 
advertising-  of  Jenny  Lind  had  created  a  furore.  A  few  days 
before  our  first  worship,  the  "Swedish  nightingale"  had  opened 
her  season  at  Castle  Garden  with  an  audience  of  seven  thousand 
people,  the  proceeds  amounting  to  $35,000.  The  unprecedented 
spectacle  was  afforded  of  people  eagerly  paying  twenty-five  dol- 
lars for  an  evening's  entertainment.  The  same  manager  about 
the  same  time  made  the  drama  popular  among  a  class  of  people 
who  had  maintained  that  the  stage  was  immoral.  His  Museum 
included  a  "Lecture  Room,"  designed  for  the  presentation  of 
what  was  called  the  '"'moral  domestic  drama."  Strict  church 
people  in  the  city,  and  country  visitors  without  number,  and 
clergymen,  found  these  entertainments  entirely  proper.  Our 
Coney  Island  in  1850  was  Hoboken,  with  a  week-day  population 
of  2,700  and  a  Sunday  influx  of  20,000. 

It  may  interest  us  to  recall  the  notable  events  of  that  day  in 
our  city.  A  few  weeks  earlier,  the  Grinnell  Expedition  had  set 
sail  from  New  York  for  the  Arctic  circle,  bent  upon  discovering 
some  trace  of  the  lamented  Sir  John  Franklin,  Dr.  Elisha  Kent 
Kane  going  as  surgeon  and  naturalist.  The  Astor  Library  had 
just  been  started,  Governor  Hamilton  Fish  having  recommended 
the  necessary  legislation.  While  the  "Herald,"  the  "Sun"  and 
the  "Tribune"  had  been  some  years  in  the  field,  the  "New  York 
Times'"  was  not  founded  by  Henry  J.  Raymond  till  the  following 
year.  The  "World"  was  not  to  appear  for  ten  years  yet.  New 
York's  population  in  1850  was  515,000,  not  a  third  of  Brooklyn's 
inhabitants  at  the  present  time.  Immigration,  about  1850,  brought 
a  remarkable  change  in  the  living.  Before  that  year,  our  domes- 
tics were  largely  blacks ;  afterward  the  Irish  became  general. 
New  York's  uptown  movement  had  begun.  It  was  noticed  that 
in  1850  there  was  not  a  single  private  residence  on  Pine  Street. 
A.  T.  Stewart,  in  1854,  extended  his  marble  store  to  Reade  Street. 
On  Broadway,  as  far  as  Bleecker  Street,  the  private  residences 
were  giving  place  to  structures  for  business.  The  fashionable 
residence  sections  were  Bond  Street,  Washington  Square,   East 

10 


Broadway  and  Union  Square.  An  elegant  region  was  building 
up  on  Second  Avenue,  Peter  G.  Stuyvesant  having  given  an  area 
for  a  square,  on  condition  that  the  city  should  erect  a  proper  iron 
fence.  The  cutting  through  of  the  avenue  divided  this  into  two 
pretty  parks,  on  the  west  side  of  which  the  massive  St.  George's 
Church  was  rising.  Samuel  B.  Ruggles,  wishing  to  get  people 
to  erect  first-class  buildings  a  little  higher  up  than  Union  Square, 
presented  what  is  now  Gramercy  Park,  to  the  owners  of  sixty 
adjoining  lots  of  land.  How  to  improve  the  ten  acre  region 
where  Broadway  crosses  Fifth  Avenue  w^as  a  problem.  A  stream 
of  water  and  a  pond  where  the  boys  skated  in  winter  interfered 
with  all  plans  for  its  development.  Through  the  influence  of 
Mayor  James  Harper  Madison  Square  took  final  form  and 
rescued  this  part  of  the  town  from  its  wastes  and  shanties  and 
made  a  new  centre  of  fashion  and  amusement.  No  one  yet 
dreamed  of  such  a  place  as  Central  Park :  but  about  this  time 
the  idea  of  connecting  Brooklyn  and  New  York  by  bridge  was 
seriously  discussed,  an  editorial  in  the  "Tribune"  saying:  "The 
bridge  is  the  great  event  of  the  day ;  New  York  and  Brooklyn 
must  be  united  and  there  is  no  other  way  of  doing  it.  The  thing 
will  certainly  be  achieved  one  of  these  days,  and  the  sooner 
the  better."  The  likeliest  plan  for  this  improvement  included  a 
floating  bridge  with  a  draw  for  passing  vessels. 

In  Brooklyn  there  had  been  a  disastrous  epidemic  of  cholera, 
especially  on  the  low,  unhealthy  grounds.  We  had  only  enjoyed 
gas  for  two  years  and  the  great  majority  insisted  that  lamps 
were  in  every  way  superior.  Our  first  church  began  with  these. 
Improvements  at  Gowanus  were  made  on  a  large  scale  by  con- 
structing a  navigable  canal  to  drain  the  malarious  swamps, 
increasing  the  healthfulness  of  South  Brooklyn  and  stimulating 
building.  These  efforts  were  successful,  one-third  the  buildings 
erected  in  Brooklyn  in  1849  being  south  of  Atlantic  Avenue. 

In  the  "History  of  St.  Mark's  Church  1850  to  1885"  reference 
is  made  to  the  three  sites  which  St.  Mark's  has  occupied.  It 
suffices  now  to  say  that  the  original  location  in  Fleet  Place  near 
Willoughby   Street,   was   in   a   well-populated   community.     The 

11 


ground  purchased  in  1860  at  DeKalb  and  Portland  Avenues  was 
in  a  newly  built,  handsome  region.  Our  present,  and  let  us  hope 
permanent,  site  was  purchased  from  the  Church  of  the  Messiah 
in  1866.    That  parish  had  been  planted  here  at  the  same  period 

that  we  had  built  in  Fleet  Place. 

The  original  church  building  for  the  Messiah  must  have  been 
erected  on  this  site  among  farms  and  vacant  lots.  In  the  Brook- 
lyn Directory  for  1841-2,  Adelphi  Street  runs  between  Clermont 
and  Carlton  Avenues  south  from  the  Wallabout  Road  to  Myrtle 
Avenue,  and  has  only  eight  houses,  of  which  three  belong  to 
officers  of  the  United  States  Navy.  It  is  not  till  1854  that  Adelphi 
Street  crosses  Flushing,  Park,  Myrtle,  Willoughby,  DeKalb, 
Lafayette,  Greene,  Fulton  and  Atlantic  Avenues.  Many  facts 
show  that  this  region  of  Brooklyn  was  then  beyond  the  limits 
of  civic  dignity.  When  we  commenced  services,  squatters  were 
on  Myrtle  Avenue  oposite  Fort  Greene.  As  these  refused  to  pay 
rent  or  to  obey  the  town  ordinances  to  remove,  it  was  decided  to 
evict  them  by  force. 

While  our  little  edifice  was  being  pushed  forward,  Trinity 
Chapel,  New  York,  was  in  building,  the  Marble  Dutch  Church 
at  Twenty-ninth  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue  was  being  planned, 
and  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral  at  Fiftieth  Street  and  Fifth 
Avenue  was  being  commenced  by  Archbishop  Hughes.  Brook- 
lyn now  had  100,000  and  Williamsburgh  20,000,  the  latter  having 
risen  since  1840  from  5,000,  and  intending  to  annex  Bushwick, 
with  15,000. 

We  note  first  in  the  words  to  the  Philippians  the  Apostle's 
overflowing  gratitude  for  fellowship  in  the  work  of  the  Gospel. 
Strong  personal  afifection  existed. 

"I  thank  my  God  upon  all  my  remembrance  of  you,  always  in 
every  supplication  of  mine  in  behalf  of  you  all  making  my 
supplication  with  joy  for  your  fellowship  in  furtherance  of  the 
Gospel." 

Paul  could  not  offer  a  prayer  without  indulging  a  supplica- 
tion for  those  dear  souls.  As  he  later  says,  he  had  the  Philip- 
I)ians  in  his  heart. 

Let  it  be  with  humility,  with  a  painful  sense  of  the  mani- 

12 


fold  shortcomings  both  of  the  people  and  of  your  clergy,  but 
most  of  all  of  your  present  Rector,  that  we  apply  to  ourselves 
these  burning  words  of  primitive  zeal.  Yet  we  feel  that  St. 
Paul  struck  the  chord  in  Philippi,  to  which  our  hearts  respond 
here  in  St.  Mark's.  Your  ministers  have  received  unmistakable 
tokens  of  your  devotion.  Of  Francis  Peck,  I  never  heard  anyone 
speak  but  in  the  tenderest  manner.  To  rich  and  poor  he  ap- 
peared the  sympathetic,  sincere  messenger  of  Christ.  Dr.  Cor- 
nell attached  people  as  with  hooks  of  steel.  Mr.  Fitch  held  to  his 
last  hour,  the  strong  respect  of  intelligent  and  devout  people. 

As  we  mention  the  ministers,  visions  rise  of  their  helpers, 
of  the  men  and  women  who  worshipped  in  our  congregations, 
taught  our  Bible  classes,  labored  in  our  societies,  extended  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  to  the  souls  without.  Among  our  workers, 
let  us  thank  God  for  Hyde,  for  Burtis  and  Hinman,  and  Mrs. 
Potter,  for  Huntington,  and  Hoffman,  for  Warburton  and 
Walker,  for  Budington,  the  Lockitts  and  Pettits,  for  Roes  and 
Longmans.  Let  us  speak  tenderly,  too,  the  names  of  Davis  and 
Whittaker,  of  Bouck  and  Newell,  of  Cole  and  Fricke,  of  Mor- 
timer, Annan  and  Keeney.  We  think  of  all  the  sacred  hours 
that  weary,  tempted  souls  have  known  in  these  four  edifices. 
There  are  the  seventeen  hundred  lives  consecrated  in  their  early 
days  at  this  Font,  with  the  water  of  Baptism.  There  are  the 
thousand  souls  who,  in  Confirmation,  deliberately  and  solemnly 
promised  obedience  to  Jesus  Christ.  There  are  the  many  thou- 
sands who,  kneeling  before  this  altar,  ate  and  drank  of  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ  and  found  their  souls  mysteriously  strength- 
ened. There  are  the  more  than  twelve  hundred  lovers  whose 
hands  were  joined  here  and  to  whom  Heaven  allotted  happiness 
and  oiTspring.  And  there  were  the  recumbent  forms  of  sire  and 
grandsire,  of  wife  and  child,  of  brother  and  friend,  borne  twice 
through  these  aisles  as  the  tears  streamed  and  we  tried  to  sing, 

"For  all  the  saints,  who  from  their  labors  rest. 

Who  Thee  by  faith  before  the  world  confessed, 

Thy  Name,  O  Jesu,  be  forever  blest, 

Alleluia." 
13 


Such  sacred  reminiscences  of  Pastor  and  People  excite  the 
profoundest  feehngs  of  thanksgiving. 

"I  thank  my  God  upon  every  remembrance  of  you  all."  I 
thank  Him  not  merely  for  my  great-souled,  earnest,  devoted 
father,  nor  for  my  gracious,  sainted  mother,  nor  for  my  happy 
home,  nor  for  my  love  of  books  and  art  and  nature,  but  I  thank 
Him  too  for  the  difficulties  and  discouragements,  for  the  delights 
and  dignities  of  this  rectorship  of  St.  Mark's. 

If  you  would  find  the  purest  friendship  of  this  world,  I  would 
advise  you  to  study  the  lives  that  have  been  given  to  the  Church 
of  God.  Look  to  the  men  and  women  who  built  up  some  little 
mission,  or  to  the  sacred  companionships  the  people  of  St.  Mark's 
have  known  in  their  sixty  years.  As  life  passes,  our  most 
precious  memories  are  not  of  our  amusements,  nor  our  occupa- 
tions, nor  even  of  our  domestic  enjoyments,  but  rather  of  those 
hours  when  the  soul  was  swept  by  impulses  from  God  on  high, 
hours  when  we  labored  to  build  up  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  hours 
in  which  we  listened  to  the  herald  of  divine  truth,  or  tried  to 
speak  of  sin  and  salvation,  of  Christ  and  heaven  to  the  little 
children. 

But  it  is  time  to  turn  from  the  past  to  the  future.  There  is 
the  anticipation,  under  God,  of  a  great  future.  Philippi  is  to 
behold  the  "furtherance  of  the  Gospel."  The  good  work  that 
started  in  Lydia's  house,  is  to  broaden  out  till  many  in  the  town 
should  be  blessed.  "Being  confident  of  this  very  thing,  that  he 
which  hath  begim  a  good  work  in  you  will  perfect  it  until  the 
day  of  Jesus  Christ."  We  are  embarked  on  a  course  which  in 
the  event  of  human  fidelity,  must  issue  in  glorious  well-being. 

The  words  of  St.  Paul  represent  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  a  light  that  goes  far  to  explain  the  secret  of  its  practical 
supremacy  among  human  interests.  The  Gospel  is  a  good  work 
begun,  promising  perfection.  It  is  the  cause  of  truth,  of  justice, 
of  purity,  in  a  word,  the  cause  of  God  working  through  the  race 
of  men.  The  weakness,  the  mutability,  the  evanescence  that 
characterize  all  other  forms  of  activity,  do  not  in  like  manner 
characterize  the   Church.     The  vine  may  be  cut  down,  but  it 

14 


springs  again  and  in  the  new  life  brings  forth  richer  clusters. 

Why  should  not  the  future  of  St.  Mark's  be  bright  in  work 
done  for  the  Master?  The  parish  is  planted  in  a  beautiful  region 
in  one  of  the  most  prosperous  communities  of  our  times.  The 
growth  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn  is  more  than  startling.  Brook- 
lyn built  in  1909  residential  structures  for  67,000  persons.  In 
the  three  years  1907,  '8  and  '9,  we  reared  abodes  for  320,000 
people,  sufficient  to  accommodate  the  entire  population  of  Troy 
(76,000),  and  of  Albany  (100,000),  and  of  Utica  (74,000),  and 
of  Salt  Lake  City  (92,000).  Today  or  rather  several  months  ago, 
Brooklyn  had  a  population  of  1,634,351,  exceeding  in  size  Phila- 
delphia. The  Borough  ranks  ninth  among  the  cities  of  the  world. 
The  area  is  only  77  square  miles,  or  50,000  acres.  The  available 
additional  acreage  is  but  40,000,  so  that  we  have  used  up  more 
than  one-half  of  our  territory.  We  have  1,000  miles  in  streets 
and  highways,  900  miles  in  sewers.  And  yet  there  have  been 
no  considerable  additions  to  our  transit  facilities.  Though  new 
bridges  have  been  constructed,  no  suitable  approaches  have 
yet  been  provided ;  there  are  no  adequate  transit  facilities  from 
Manhattan  to  Brooklyn.  And  yet  in  these  ten  years  Brooklyn  has 
added  467,000  to  its  numbers,  or  more  people  than  live  in  Cincin- 
nati (364,000),  or  Detroit  (465,000),  or  Washington  (331,000). 
With  the  Fourth  Avenue  Subway,  the  Broadway-Lafayette  Loop, 
better  communication  across  the  Brooklyn  Bridge,  the  Williams- 
burgh  Bridge,  the  Oueensborough  Bridge,  and  a  conservative 
estimate  for  the  next  ten  years  would  place  the  population  of 
this  Borough  alone  in  1920  at  2,500,000. 

In  so  teeming  a  population,  we  are  members  of  a  church  that 
has  proven  its  adaptability  to  the  people  of  America.  Statistics 
presented  a  few  days  ago  to  the  Triennial  Convention  at  its  open- 
ing session  in  Cincinnati  show  that  sixty  years  ago,  the  Epis- 
copal Church  numbered  80,000  communicants,  and  has  today 
950,000  members.  While  the  poulation  of  the  United  States  has 
increased  four  hundred  per  cent,  the  number  of  communicants 
in  this  Church  has  increased  over  twelve  hundred  per  cent. 

Let  us  only  love  this  church,  and  strive  to  bring  others  to 

lo 


love  it,  too.  May  these  days  of  sacred  reminiscence  spur  us  to 
a  purer  zeal.  Go  back  sixty  years.  Think  of  the  insurance  com- 
panies, firms,  banks,  factories,  mining  enterprises  that  have  arisen, 
dazzled,  and  then  dropped  from  sight.  And  poor  St.  Mark's, 
often  unable  to  pay  its  ministers,  or  its  choir,  or  its  insurance, — 
St.  Mark's  has  lived  and  come  into  a  goodly  heritage.  When 
you  are  discouraged,  look  at  the  Church !  When  God  begins  the 
work  of  Redemption,  it  will  be  carried  on  to  an  eternal  triumph. 
Sacred  hours  in  sixty  years  in  which  our  grandfathers  and 
our  fathers  and  we  labored  and  wept  and  rejoiced  and  hoped  and 
feared  and  struggled  and  triumphed  together !  Here  faithful 
men  have  listened  to  the  glad  tidings  and  tried  to  square  their 
lives  with  the  truth.  And  as  we  look  up  to  this  choir  invisible, 
this  cloud  of  witnesses  on  the  heights,  we  will  gather  strength 
from  hand-grasping  with  our  own  dear  living  fellow-members 
who  are  striving  to  "lay  aside  every  weight  and  the  sin  which 
doth  so  easily  beset  us  and  to  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is 
set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  perfector  of 
our  faith." 


K. 


' '  <  'i 

!  !! 


„  f  ''I 


PHOTOMOUNT 
PAMPHLET  BINDER 

Manu/aclund  by 

GAYLORD  BROS.  in*. 

Syricut*,  N.  Y. 

Stockton,  Calif. 


BX5920 .B8S5  R8 

St.  Mark's  sixtieth  anniversary  1850-19 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00082  7644 


W^^ 


